Toll roads - An option

Henry Hungerbeeler, director of the Missouri Department of Transportation, continues to say the state would have to spend an additional billion dollars a year for the next 20 years to complete all the projects Missourians say they want.

But Hungergbeeler, like so many others in state government, knows there is no magic wand when it comes to Missouri's budget, which will be about a billion dollars short of revenue to fund existing programs next year.

One idea that has been mentioned as a possible revenue source for MoDOT is toll roads. A residents advisory panel that was charged with reviewing the department's operations recommended last week that the state should have toll-road authority. That would take legislative action. Currently, tolls are charged only on bridges.

If you talk to motorists who have benefited from toll bridges in Missouri, primarily in the Kansas City area, over the past few decades, you'll find that they find paying tolls annoying, but they appreciate the new and improved bridges that the toll revenue pays for. Ask motorists in the Lake of the Ozarks area if the new toll bridge there is worth the cost and inconvenience of paying tolls. Most will say it is.

Other states have toll highways. In some parts of the country, toll roads are a primary source of highway revenue along certain routes. Turnpikes in states like Pennsylvania and Kansas have long been favored routes for motorists, especially those traveling long distances.

Clearly, toll roads would not be the answer for every highway project in Missouri. Only major arteries with high traffic volume would be suitable candidates for tolls. One critical factor in operating a toll road is collecting the tolls. Toll highways tend to have exits that are spaced farther apart than other interstate highways, because each entrance and exit on a toll road requires a method of collecting tolls.

In Missouri, one major route that comes to mind as suitable for tolls is Interstate 70, which stretches between St. Louis and Kansas City and is the highest-volume highway in the state. Except in the two urban areas, I-70 is primarily a four-lane divided interstate that was completed more than three decades ago. It is showing its age, and traffic is increasing as development along the route continues. Cost estimates for upgrading I-70 are staggering. Meanwhile, there are dozens of critical highway needs elsewhere in the state -- some new construction, but mostly maintaining existing routes.

Toll roads aren't a magic wand, but they may be part of the solution for Missouri's highway future.